What Book Are You Currently Reading?

Posted by: u5227470736789439 on 22 October 2005

Among all the diversions of modern life, I reckon that print still provides something unique, and also free of pressure from others...

Currently I am half way through the first volume (of six) of Churchill's 'The Second World War.' And for fun I am also reading Geoffrey Trease's 'Poppinjay Staires.'

Sincerely, Fredrik
Posted on: 24 April 2006 by Gianluigi Mazzorana
quote:
Originally posted by HR:
quote:
Originally posted by HR:


Tomorrow Orhan Pamuk is going to give a read of his books at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. I am going to be there.

Haim



And i'm going to say that you're very lucky guy!
Smile
Posted on: 24 April 2006 by JoeH
I am currently re-reading 'Parliament's Greatest Eccentrics' by Neil Hamilton, and am dipping into a book on Piranesi's engravings (bought for a bargain six quid as part of a Taschen promotion).
Posted on: 24 April 2006 by HR
quote:
Originally posted by Gianluigi Mazzorana:
quote:
Originally posted by HR:
quote:
Originally posted by HR:


Tomorrow Orhan Pamuk is going to give a read of his books at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. I am going to be there.

Haim



And i'm going to say that you're very lucky guy!
Smile


Gianluigi my friend,

It was a very exciting night for my wife and me. Orhan Pamuk read in Turkish (so we can hear the sound of the language) and then in English from three of his books: My name is red, Snow and Istanbul. He has a great personality, a lot of sense of humor and a unique way of puting his thoughts together. You could really see the person behind the stories, and you should have been here with us, Gianluigi. You would have had a ball.

Regards,

Haim
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by Gianluigi Mazzorana
quote:
Originally posted by HR:
You could really see the person behind the stories, and you should have been here with us, Gianluigi. You would have had a ball



Hi Haim!
So nice to hear about a well spent evening!
I recently did read "My name is red" and "Snow".
I liked them much and....yes.....there's an human beeing behind the story.
And that's the difference between a writer and a "best seller".
I think that a writer take the story and the characters that populate the plot inside of him or her and become a part of it while watching from outside.

Please tell me: is there any other middle-eastern writer you'd like to suggest us?
I'm always curious and thirsty!
Smile

Cheers!

PS: now spring can come and settle down in my garden.
Windows are open and the world is white, pink and light blue!

Gianluigi
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by Diccus62
Just finished and wonderful. Beautifully written.
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by Diccus62
Currently reading. Amusing.
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by David Leedham


serious but amusing at the same time, half way through and no predicting the ending here.
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by Gianluigi Mazzorana
Yes.
I did read "The innocent" some years ago.
The italian title is "Lettera a Berlino" ("A letter to Berlin" literally in english).
Nice.
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by Diccus62
quote:
Originally posted by David Leedham:


serious but amusing at the same time, half way through and no predicting the ending here.


Hornby will be pleased tonight with the Arsenal reaching the final of the Champions League despite a well dodgy penalty for Villa Real.

Up the Arsenal. Smile

Diccus (an armchair Sunderland supporter waiting for Niall Quinn to save us)- Sorry I'm off thread
Posted on: 25 April 2006 by HR
quote:
Originally posted by Gianluigi Mazzorana:
quote:
Originally posted by HR:
You could really see the person behind the stories, and you should have been here with us, Gianluigi. You would have had a ball



Hi Haim!
So nice to hear about a well spent evening!
I recently did read "My name is red" and "Snow".
I liked them much and....yes.....there's an human beeing behind the story.
And that's the difference between a writer and a "best seller".
I think that a writer take the story and the characters that populate the plot inside of him or her and become a part of it while watching from outside.

Please tell me: is there any other middle-eastern writer you'd like to suggest us?
I'm always curious and thirsty!
Smile

Cheers!

PS: now spring can come and settle down in my garden.
Windows are open and the world is white, pink and light blue!

Gianluigi




Gianluigi,

Don't speak of spring, please. It is forty degrees in Chicago today and the heat is working full time.

Besides A.B. yehoshua (who is excellent) I like very much another Israeli writer named Amos Oz. If you have not read anything by him you might start with 'My Michael'.

Any good Italian (I prefere contemporary) writers that you would recommend?

Thanks,

Haim
Posted on: 26 April 2006 by Beano
I'm re-reading Almost a Childhood
Growing Up Among the Nazis
By Hans-Georg Behr... it's a Memoir and has been translated from German into English.
Posted on: 26 April 2006 by Gianluigi Mazzorana
quote:
Originally posted by HR:
Don't speak of spring, please. It is forty degrees in Chicago today and the heat is working full time.



Smile
Hi Haim!
we still have snow on mountains and that's a good natural air-conditioner!

Regarding books thank you for the link.
Sarurday morning i'll be in the book shop!

One of the most recent acclaimed title of the season is this:



The book is relatively new and i don't know if there already is an english translation of it.
Few lines about it here:
http://www.foreign-rights.rcslibri.it/libri/caoscalmo.htm

Ps: i'll take a look around and post some titles i think are good to be got.

Cheers
Gianluigi
Posted on: 26 April 2006 by HR



Gianluigi,

Took your advice, took my wife to the library and ended with two Italians:

Sandro Veronesi / Forza del passato
Alessandro Barbero / The Battle, a new history of Waterloo.

Thanks and good night,

Haim
Posted on: 11 May 2006 by erik scothron
Don Quixote - By Miguel De Cervantes.

A Quintessential Masterpiece of European Literature and damn funny to boot.

Posted on: 11 May 2006 by Chalshus
Just started on Thor Heyerdahl - Tigris.

Great so far. Smile

Posted on: 11 May 2006 by u5227470736789439
Dear Christian,

I managed to get hold of Kon Tiki, in the very copy I read at school. A fantastic book, which I have read several times, and most recently earier this year.

A fond day I remember with my Grandmother was to vist the Fram, the Kon Tiki and later the Viking Ships in Oslo, where my Grandmother grew up when it was still called Chritiania!

Fredrik
Posted on: 11 May 2006 by Chalshus
Dear Fredrik.

So I'm guessing you are 35-45 years old. Winker
Oslo was named Christiania between 1878 and 1924 according to Wikipedia.

Have not been able to read Kon Tiki yet, but re(a)d Ra last year, and I liked that one very much.
Tiki is on the list.

Heard about the swedish writer Jan Guillou? He has written a trilogy (actually it's four books) about the Knight Templar Arn Magnusson. Brilliant.


-Christian
Posted on: 11 May 2006 by Chalshus
Arn Magnusson
Posted on: 11 May 2006 by Diccus62
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by erik scothron
quote:
Originally posted by Fredrik_Fiske:
Dear Christian,

I managed to get hold of Kon Tiki, in the very copy I read at school. A fantastic book, which I have read several times, and most recently earier this year.

A fond day I remember with my Grandmother was to vist the Fram, the Kon Tiki and later the Viking Ships in Oslo, where my Grandmother grew up when it was still called Chritiania!

Fredrik


Fredrik, Christian,

The Viking Ship Museum and the Folk Museum in Oslo are two of my favourite places. People don't believe me when I tell them that houses in Norway used to have turf on the roof and the owners would put a goat on the roof as they had no lawn mowers to keep the grass short.

Med venlig hilsen

Erik
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by Rasher
quote:
Originally posted by erik scothron:
Don Quixote - By Miguel De Cervantes.
A Quintessential Masterpiece of European Literature and damn funny to boot.

I was reminded to read this after hearing Melvin Bragg on Radio 4 a few weeks ago, but he does insist on calling him "Kwiksott", just to be an ass.
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by JoeH
'The Passing Years' by Lord Willoughby de Broke.

Seems to be mostly about fox-hunting.
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by erik scothron
quote:
Originally posted by Rasher:
quote:
Originally posted by erik scothron:
Don Quixote - By Miguel De Cervantes.
A Quintessential Masterpiece of European Literature and damn funny to boot.

I was reminded to read this after hearing Melvin Bragg on Radio 4 a few weeks ago, but he does insist on calling him "Kwiksott", just to be an ass.


Yeah, and what about his hair?
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by Traveling Dan
Charles Mackay's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" - written in the 19th Century but still amazingly relevant to modern life.

It has much common ground with Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly" - another fascinating read.

The introduction (to Mackay's book) by Professor Norman Stone is 3 pages of some of the best and tightest prose one could ever hope to read.

Dan
Posted on: 12 May 2006 by o.j.
East of eden ,written in the wonderful language of john steinbeck,
..........after that ineed alittle bit james elroy.......and then i go back to my own book
....a crimial story about motorbike racedrivers,
robbery and murder in the 1970ers.in vienna.

.........hope my story has one percent of steinbecks language and elroys "psychodelic way".

..............those two attributes should be
enough for asuperseller.

O.J.(always writing about writing ,and always
too lazy to find the way from listening to zappa
on his naim system to his writing desk.)

.........................cheers (bruichladdich)